Dweezil Announces Cease and Desist Tour Amid Family Dispute, Includes Two New York Dates

Dweezil has announced the Cease and Desist Tour 2016, with dates to take place this summer. The tour will celebrate fifty years of Frank Zappa’s music, and is so named due to familial disputes over Frank Zappa’s estate, namely a cease and desist letter Dweezil received from the Zappa Family Trust.

The dispute began after the death of Gail Zappa, who oversaw the estate of her husband, Frank Zappa, and the Zappa Family Trust, until her death last year. Since, Dweezil has clashed with two other siblings, Ahmet and Diva, who are trustees of the estate (Dweezil is a beneficiary). After issues with the trust in April, Dweezil changed the name of his band from Zappa plays Zappa to Dweezil Zappa Plays Frank Zappa.

While Ahmet claims the trust required Dweezil to pay a small fee in order to continue to use the name Zappa Plays Zappa, Dweezil maintains that he is owed merchandise profits from the trust.

Amidst the dispute, the tour – 50 Years of Frank: Dweezil Zappa Plays Whatever the Hell He Wants: The Cease and Desist Tour – will kick off July 1 in New Mexico, before heading to the East Coast. There are two New York dates: Port Chester Capitol Theatre on July 8 and Huntington Paramount on July 10.